Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
July 11, 2019 | #1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2006
Location: North/Central Texas
Posts: 67
|
Wheat hay for mulch
Hello , I purchased 20 bales of hay to use as garden mulch and had it delivered 60 miles to my house . As we were unloading I noticed the wheat had not been harvested before it was baled , lots of seed heads . Was delivered for free so I felt obligated to accept . Was 100% my fault for not asking more questions before purchase . Now am wondering if this will create a problem as mulch . Can whatever wheat sprouts be pulled easy enough or is wheat deep rooted ? Would exposing to weather until spring kill the seed heads ? Any thoughts from experience on this matter would be appreciated . Thanks in advance for advice .
|
July 11, 2019 | #2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
|
I would use it anyway.
It wont sprout now and when it does you can just turn it under. |
July 11, 2019 | #3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 1,420
|
Weathering will not kill the seeds. I use straw not hay for mulch and I get a few weeds that are easy to pull but I don't know about hay. You will probably get a lot of growth.
|
July 11, 2019 | #4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2006
Location: North/Central Texas
Posts: 67
|
thanks for your response . Probably will use and deal with consequences .
|
July 11, 2019 | #5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
|
Wheat is an annual wont sprout till the weather cools anyway.
Dont let it go to seed and your done with it. |
July 11, 2019 | #6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2006
Location: North/Central Texas
Posts: 67
|
thank you .
|
July 11, 2019 | #7 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: California
Posts: 383
|
Or treat it as a cover crop?
I grew wheat in my raised beds in my new house this winter as an experiment, just pulled it to harvest in the last few weeks. It was very easy to get out by hand. The gathering and tying of the bundles to protect the heads was what was time consuming, but I was harvesting... FYI, they didn't start to form heads for me until spring, until then they just looked like long grass. Once they stood up under their own weight the flower heads followed rather quickly. You could just pull the grasses out as they come up. |
July 11, 2019 | #8 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
|
Quote:
Yeah not a weedy plant at all. Through natural selection the wheat we grow the head doesn't shatter seeds like the wild plant it came from. |
|
July 12, 2019 | #9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ohio
Posts: 4,350
|
do you have wheat hay or wheat straw? hay is a green cut plant left to dry in the sun and I do not know of farmers cutting the wheat for hay. straw is the wheat that has been harvested once it is mature and has turned brown. the grain separated from the shaft via combining it and the left over shaft is used for straw.
wheat, oats, barley and rye can be used as straw and any left over grain will sprout in the garden. we have used rye before and its a total pain to till under. farmers actually spray it with roundup to kill it off then till it under and it helps to then release the weed killing benefits of it.
__________________
carolyn k Last edited by clkeiper; July 12, 2019 at 07:19 AM. |
July 12, 2019 | #10 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 1,420
|
Bales of hay look greenish and bales of straw are a golden brownish color.
|
July 12, 2019 | #11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2006
Location: North/Central Texas
Posts: 67
|
Bearded wheat hay is what I purchased . Has wheat heads intact , Was baled last year so it is brownish on outside of bale but greenish when you break into the bales .
|
July 12, 2019 | #12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Victoria, Australia
Posts: 870
|
Crops of Wheat, Barley, Oats etc are often cut for hay here Down Under if there is something wrong with them, ie weather affected leading to sprouted grain or drought where the farmer is looking to make something off an otherwise worthless crop.
|
July 12, 2019 | #13 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Brownville, Ne
Posts: 3,284
|
Quote:
I use wheat straw that has been baled after the wheat has been harvested. Not many farmer friends grow wheat around here any more so it is difficult to find. Oat and barley straw is also getting to be rare. A local hardware store gets piles of straw bales and I have had to resort to buying them some years. The store-bought have more weed seeds in them.
__________________
there's two things money can't buy; true love and home grown tomatoes. |
|
July 12, 2019 | #14 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: California
Posts: 383
|
Never said it wasn't weedy.
I said it was easy to pull out by hand - unlike say, the vicious thorny Canadian thisles and dandelions that plague my yard, for example. I also have no illusions about my wheat baling skills. I am certain some seed heads dropped and will be buried in the mulch. Last edited by JosephineRose; July 12, 2019 at 01:28 PM. |
July 12, 2019 | #15 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ohio
Posts: 4,350
|
Quote:
__________________
carolyn k |
|
|
|